Pentagon Admits Iran Posed No Imminent Threat to U.S.
WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – The Pentagon has informed Congress that Iran was not planning to strike U.S. forces or bases in West Asia unless Israel attacked first, undercutting the Trump administration’s stated rationale for launching military aggression against the Islamic Republic, according to multiple sources who attended the briefing.
During a congressional session on Sunday, Pentagon staff acknowledged there was no imminent military threat from Tehran toward American interests prior to the U.S.-Israeli strikes that began on Saturday, the sources said.
The acknowledgement contradicts assertions by senior administration officials who claimed the aggression was launched to prevent Iran from carrying out a preemptive attack on U.S. bases in the region.
Several American news outlets reported on Saturday that no verifiable
intelligence supported the administration’s narrative.
According to a report by Axios news agency citing U.S. officials, military planners from the U.S. and Israel began preparing for the aggression soon after a second round of U.S.-Iran indirect negotiations in Geneva ended on February 17.
The strikes were initially scheduled to occur about a week earlier but were delayed due to a combination of operational concerns, intelligence assessments and diplomatic developments.
Officials cited weather conditions in the region and the need for closer coordination between U.S. and Israeli forces as factors in the delay. The one-week window allowed for an additional round of nuclear indirect negotiations between the two countries in Geneva.
When asked about the Pentagon briefing undercutting the administration’s rationale, White House spokesperson Dylan Johnson said the briefers had “briefed the bipartisan staffs of several national security committees in both chambers for over 90 minutes on the military action in Iran.”
During the session, the Pentagon told Congress that Iran’s ballistic missile program and resistance groups across the region posed a threat to U.S. interests. However, sources noted Iran had historically used its military capabilities only as a deterrent, not preemptively.
The Pentagon also informed Congress that its initial goal was to destroy Iran’s air defense and command and control nodes, though U.S. and Israeli forces have repeatedly struck civilian infrastructure, including a school where more than 170 students were martyred.